Beginning Kindergarten

Research tells us that successful transitions from home to school can contribute to long-term school success ([3], p. 7). For most children and families, kindergarten marks the entrance to formal schooling. A successful adjustment to kindergarten will often influence the child's perceptions, attitudes, and performance in subsequent school years [2]. Children who enjoy their first school experience are more likely to participate in classroom activities, to comply with teachers' rules, and to accept school responsibilities-behaviors that contribute to achievement in later grades. Since children's feelings about school-whether they like school or not-are often developed early in their school experience and appear relatively stable over time, it is important that the transition to kindergarten is successful for children and for their parents [1].

Parent News interviewed Jane Marriott, a kindergarten teacher at Leal Elementary School in Urbana,Illinois, about her experiences with children making the transition to kindergarten. Jane Marriott has been a kindergarten teacher for 22 years.

PN:
How can parents best prepare their children-physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally-to start kindergarten?

JM:
Parents can help prepare their child for kindergarten in several ways. Probably most importantly, parents should talk with their child about beginning kindergarten to find out what their child already knows about the new school and to find out what questions or anxieties the child might have about the new school. Parents should try to visit the school ahead of time. Whether the school is one block away or one mile away, it is important to take a trip to the school before beginning kindergarten. Parents should walk around the playground and talk to as many people at the school as possible. In addition to easing a child's anxieties about starting kindergarten, these early talks and visits demonstrate to a child that the entire family cares about and will be involved in the experience of starting kindergarten. Parents need to remember, however, that the days before school are a very busy time for school staff.

A second way that parents help prepare for kindergarten is to insure that their child gets sufficient rest by going to bed early the night before school and wakes up sufficiently early to have a good breakfast and to gather necessary items for the day. These basic physical needs must be met for children to be ready to listen, to take in information, and to learn. Many parents tell me about morning battles they experienced with their child getting ready for preschool. I encourage parents to use the transition to kindergarten as a time to change those earlier habits. Parents can explain that starting kindergarten is a time to introduce new routines, perhaps by getting backpacks and clothes ready the evening before to ease those morning battles.

Finally, it helps for parents to talk to their child about how kindergarten will be different from earlier preschool experiences. In most cases, there are more children in a group and fewer adults per child in kindergarten than in preschool situations. Let the child starting kindergarten know that teachers always want to know what a child has to say, but that when there are 20 other children in the class, individual children often need to wait patiently to have their teacher's attention. Parents should help children to know the difference between emergency situations requiring immediate attention-such as a badly skinned knee or a bathroom emergency-and situations that can wait to be shared with the teacher.

PN:
What are some things parents commonly overlook in preparing children to start kindergarten?

JM:
Parents often focus on the start of the day and separating from their child, and neglect the important dismissal time at the end of the day. Although dismissal procedures vary from school to school, parents can help their child prepare for the end of the kindergarten day so the child knows what to expect. In our school, there are hundreds of children coming out of the school door at dismissal time. We talk in class about what will happen at the end of class time. It also helps for parents to understand dismissal procedures and talk these over with their child ahead of time, letting the child know that he or she is never to leave the school grounds without checking with a trusted adult.

A second area that is often overlooked has to do with other school staff. The focus on beginning kindergarten is often on the kindergarten classroom teacher, and rightly so. There are other staff members at school that the child will be with on a regular, even daily, basis: lunchroom aides, library staff, and physical education teachers, among others. It helps for children to know that other teachers and adults will share in their care and education at school.

PN:
What are some typical difficulties children encounter in their first weeks or months in kindergarten?

JM:
One of the most common parent behaviors I see that can lead to transition difficulties occurs when parents try to do too much for their child. This is most apparent at the start of the day when parents hang up their child's coat; put away their child's backpack, lunch box, or library books; find their child's journal; and so on. I can't emphasize enough how important it is for children to perform these routine tasks for themselves. Doing so enables a child to feel capable, in control, and confident. I also believe it helps children to establish their own school identity, which later helps them be successful and independent in ways that they need in order to be comfortable in kindergarten. If a parent assists a child with some of these things now and then helps out when the child is feeling particularly rushed, that's certainly fine. Doing so on a regular basis, however, undermines a child's sense of confidence, competence, and security in his or her new school setting.

PN:
What are some examples of difficulties children have that are not typical once they begin kindergarten, ones that might signal that specialized help is needed?

JM:
I can think of three examples. I would be very concerned if a child is not freely approaching and talking with the classroom teacher or other significant adults within the first week of school. Not doing so can result in some safety issues should a child need assistance.

A second red flag area has to do with the excessively impulsive and aggressive child, one who hits and knocks other children every single time he or she is in line. Young children are naturally fidgety and will come into contact with everything and everyone in their environment now and then. I'm referring to behavior that is excessive and constant.

Finally, I grow concerned about children who won't use the bathroom. Sometimes this happens because a child is anxious about using something so big and impersonal. Or perhaps the child got disoriented returning from the bathroom at school once and has been apprehensive since. Visiting the bathrooms would be a good thing to add to parents' site visits before kindergarten begins. I should mention that it is not unusual for a child to wet his or her pants a couple times during the kindergarten year. It often happens simply because the child gets very busy and forgets or doesn't want to interrupt his or her time to use the bathroom.

PN:
What are some general messages you have for parents as they think about this important transition to kindergarten?

JM:
The most important advice I give to parents is to take beginning school extremely seriously. I encourage parents to be involved in their child's school experience in as many ways as their schedule will allow: drop in now and then, volunteer at the school on a regular basis if they can, ask if there are things that can be sent home to do, attend teacher conferences, and go to PTA (Parent Teacher Association)-sponsored meetings and events. I encourage parents to go through their child's book bag each day and to talk about everything that gets sent home from school: a Friday News Note from the teacher, an activity sheet completed by the child at school, or a message from the principal. Research supports what I have observed firsthand-if parents are active in school, their children do better. Parents who haven't had a favorable experience in school growing up find it difficult to heed my advice about being positive and involved in their child's school. I urge those parents to put that experience behind them for their child's sake. Education needs to be a real priority, especially at the kindergarten level. Important attitudes and habits are instilled in kindergarten. If kindergarten is a positive experience for the child, then later school years are also likely to go well.

Let me finish by saying that I think kindergarten is the greatest year of school. The children are pure, open, and enthusiastic. Each year, I look forward to getting to know a group of very fine young children and their families. Each day is filled with smiles, hugs, knitted eyebrows, precious drawings, questions, and discovery. I feel tremendously fortunate to spend my days with 5- to 6-year-old people. They are so uplifting and full of promise. It is good for parents to know that the teacher is as excited as the children and that she or he feels very honored to share this most auspicious year with each and every child.

For More Information

Recent Research on All-Day Kindergarten http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/2001/clark01.html

Full-Day Kindergarten http://npin.org/pnews/2001/pnew101/int101d.html

Full-Day Kindergarten Programs http://npin.org/library/1998/n00014/n00014.html

Entering Kindergarten: A Portrait of American Children when They Begin School http://npin.org/library/2001/n00525/n00525.html

Top 10 Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00301/n00301.html

What Should Be Learned in Kindergarten? http://npin.org/library/pre1998/n00227/n00227.html

Getting Ready for School http://npin.org/pnews/2000/pnew500/feat500.html

"Too Young for Kindergarten?" What Does the Research Say? http://npin.org/pnews/1997/pnew297/pnew297f.html

Sources

[1] Ladd, Gary. (2000). Children's initial sentiments about kindergarten: Is school liking an antecedent of early classroom participation and achievement? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46(2), 255-279.

[2] Patten, Peggy. (1999). Pathways project: An interview with Gary Ladd. Parent News [Online], 5(4). Available: http://npin.org/pnews/1999/pnew799/int799c.html

[3] Winton, Pam. (1999). Kindergarten in transition: Passages. Early Developments, 3(1), 3, 7.